Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Lafayette area Business Briefs for July 15, 2018

Workshop focuses on organic farming

A free, two-day workshop focused on organic farming practices is being held in St. Martinville on July 24-25 for beginning and advanced farmers, agriculture professionals, extension agents and home gardeners interested in small-scale, sustainable vegetable production.

The Beginning/Advanced Organic Farmer Workshop will be held at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Cade Farm. Sign-in will begin at 8:15 a.m., and the workshop will be from 9 until 4:30 p.m. both days. The LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Professional Development Program will present the workshop.

Nominations sought for farm representatives

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting nominations from farmers and ranchers for candidates as local parish committee representatives.

Committees make decisions about how federal farm programs are administered locally to best serve the needs of agriculture in their community, said acting Farm Service Agency Administrator Steve Peterson. Representation is particularly needed from underserved producers, which includes beginning, women and other minority farmers and ranchers, he said.

For election purposes, counties and parishes are divided into local administrative areas. An informational meeting on the area election process is being held at 8:30 a.m. July 16 at the LSU Cooperative Service at 4419 Idlewild Road in Clinton. Members serve three-year terms.

The form and other information about FSA committee elections are available at www.fsa.usda.gov/elections. All nomination forms must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1. Visit farmers.gov for more information. Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 5.

Bollinger delivers Coast Guard cutter

Bollinger Shipyards has delivered a 29th fast response cutter to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard took delivery of the USCGC Forrest Rednour on June 7 in Key West, Florida. The commissioning of the 154-foot patrol craft is scheduled for November in southern California. This will be the first of four fast response cutters to be stationed in San Pedro, California.

RDnote gets funds from foundation

RDnote, a digital health company in New Orleans, is receiving a $250,000 investment through the Healthcare Innovation Fund subsidiary of the Lafayette General Foundation.

The investment follows the fund's initial seed equity investment in RDnote in 2016 and will allow the company to expand its technical and clinical staff to meet the demand for its products and services.

RDnote uses technology to integrate clinical nutrition best practices to improve quality of patient care for those struggling with both acute and chronic conditions, such as congestive heart failure and diabetes.

Since receiving HIF’s initial investment in late 2016, RDnote implemented its nutrition-focused clinical decision support software at Lafayette General Medical Center and deployed it in all seven hospitals in the Lafayette General Health system. The company is expanding to additional hospital systems within Louisiana and is in discussions to expand to providers outside of Louisiana.

LCMC Health signs real estate pact

LCMC Health and its member hospitals have signed a master services agreement with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate of Baton Rouge that covers lease administration, property accounting, leasing and property administration for LCMC Health’s facilities.

The agreement includes Children’s Hospital, Touro Infirmary, West Jefferson Medical Center, University Medical Center New Orleans and New Orleans East Hospital.

Scott Landry, senior vice president of LCMC Health, said the agreement allows his company to focus on its mission of providing health care services to patients.

Livingston accepting leadership applications

The Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications until July 19 for its Leadership Livingston Class of 2019.

The 10-month program is designed to include a diverse pool of applicants and participants in a program that explores issues facing Livingston Parish.

The program begins with an overnight retreat followed by monthly daylong field trips learning about different aspects of the parish through May, followed by a graduation ceremony in June.

Domino's relocates 'pizza theater' store

Domino’s has relocated a “pizza theater” store to 13505 U.S. 90 in Boutte.

The locally-owned store, which is located next door to its former store, features the company's new pizza theater design, which includes a lobby, indoor and outdoor seating, free Wi-Fi, open-area viewing of the food preparation process, a pickup window for carryout orders and the ability to track carryout orders electronically on a lobby screen.

Glenn Mueller is the Boutte Domino’s franchise owner. The phone number is (985) 785-1200.

Founded in 1960, Domino’s Pizza operates about 15,000 stores in over 85 markets.

Pivach becomes Re/Max Generations

The greater New Orleans firm was founded by George and Frances Pivach in 1956. Diana Pivach Alfortish, current owner and daughter of the company’s founders, will continue to serve as the primary broker, with more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry. Her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Alfortish Cheramie and Cory Cheramie, joined the company’s leadership team as co-owners.

Alfortish said joining Re/Max gives the agency new technology, tools and resources that will benefit its agents and clients. The agency also recently completed office renovations on its 2,000-square-foot space. Its website is www.generationsofrealestate.com and phone is (504) 394-2255.

Fidelity partners with Stratos for services

Fidelity Bank has entered into a partnership with Stratos Wealth Partners of New Orleans to offer wealth management services to Fidelity Bank clients.